The Book
by Myrddin Emrys The Third
Summary: A book on the lost races of the magical world leads Hermione to a relationship she never would have considered, as well as a few truths as to the origins of magic, for purebloods and muggleborns. Dramione. Hiatus with possible deleting down the track.
1. The Discovery

**Hello! I've got a brand new laptop, and it's absolutely gorgeous! This means that I have working internet now, which I didn't before. I wanted to post this earlier, but for obvious reasons I couldn't. I'll be getting on to my other stories and hopefully updating them soon. Anyway, Enjoy the new story…**

**I don't own Harry Potter and co.**

_**The Book**_

**Chapter One - The Discovery**

It was three days until she would be heading back to Hogwarts, and Hermione Granger was looking forward to it. Of course, she'd always looked forward to it, ever since she first found out that she was a witch, but this time, there was no manic, self-styled Dark Lord trying to kill her and her friends, which was a definite relief. A normal year of school was going to be the best thing she could have ever wished for. Plus, being Head Girl was an extra bonus.

Well, actually the best thing she could wish for, she'd already gotten. Hermione had managed to track down her parents in Australia, and they were home now, though with an extra person. While living in Melbourne, Monica Wilkins had become pregnant. When Hermione'd found out, she'd been a little hesitant to greet her parents as themselves, but when she had, Geoffrey and Lydia Granger been overjoyed to see her. Hermione's unborn sibling was due in November, though her parents didn't know the gender. They wanted to be surprised.

So, soon Hermione wasn't going to be an only child anymore.

But anyway, at this particular moment, she was walking through Diagon Alley, having already visited multiple places, such as the apothecary and Flourish and Blotts, the latter being her last visit. Hermione had everything she needed that was on her list, plus a few extra things that she was interested in, and she wanted to find something to eat before heading back to the Burrow, she'd been invited over for dinner tonight.

As she walked along the Alley, something caught her interest. It was a bookstore, one she'd never seen before, and yet the signage looked old. Curious, Hermione stepped up to the door, noting the words _Agitha Archibald's Rare And Interesting Books_.Rare books? Now _that _had her full attention! Hermione pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The shop was rather well lit, though it held an edge of mystery to it, accentuated by the musty smell of books that she loved so much. Looking around, Hermione spotted several bookshelves, all filled with old books that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be lovingly maintained. She stepped forward and reached out to touch one of the books, a slight smile on her face at the feel of the leather binding.

"Good afternoon!" a voice trilled, and startled, Hermione spun around to see a young woman beaming at her.

"Oh! Er, good afternoon," Hermione replied.

"Sorry to startle you. I'm Maria Archibald," the woman introduced herself. "How may I help you?"

"Um, I've never seen this shop here before," Hermione said. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a couple of months," Maria told her, "though we used to be here, decades ago. My great-grandmother ran that shop, but then she packed everything up and left. I've reopened it with her name, in her honour."

"So you did a charm to make your shop sign look older?" Hermione asked, interested.

Maria beamed. "Yup!" she confirmed. "I thought it would give the shop a good aura. So, are you interested in anything in particular, or would you prefer to browse?"

"Oh! I rather thought I'd just look around," Hermione said, "but I don't really know what I'd have in mind, to be perfectly honest."

Maria smiled, then wrinkled her brow. "You look a little familiar," she said, then her expression lit up. "Hermione Granger! You've been in the Daily Prophet a lot lately! And they did an article on you in Witch Weekly as well!"

Hermione inwardly groaned. How she hated that article! They'd tried to make her into the 'hottest thing this side of dragon's breath', and it was causing her a lot of grief. A lot of wizards had sent her some love notes, requests for dates and even marriage. A few witches had sent some as well...

"I guess you didn't like the article," Maria commented with a giggle. "It's written all over your face! Anyway, feel free to browse, and if you need any assistance, I'll be over at the counter, ok?"

Hermione nodded and Maria left her alone.

As she browsed, Hermione noticed that several of the books were ones that she'd seen in the restricted section of the library in Hogwarts, including one that would scream if you opened it. But there were also a lot of books with subjects she'd only ever dreamed of reading, like a book that was a collection of old potion recipes, one on the early days of quidditch (Ron and Harry would probably love that one!) and also an original copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_. That one she didn't linger over too long, she already had one after all, courtesy of Dumbledore.

It felt like she'd been in here forever, but when she looked at her watch, Hermione discovered it was only about forty-five minutes, and she decided that maybe she should leave anyway. That was when she spotted it, sitting rather innocuously on the shelf, not next to any other book. Reaching out, Hermione grabbed hold of it and turned it so she could see the title. The words _A Guide To The Lost Beings Of The Magical World, by Ariana Lawson _seemed to jump out at her. Lost beings? What lost beings?

"I see you've found a book," Maria said, causing Hermione to jump. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!"

"That's alright," Hermione said. "What does this mean? What lost beings?"

"The ones that disappeared, of course!" Maria said, continuing at Hermione's confused expression, "Centuries ago, a bunch of magical beings simply vanished. No one knows where they went or why, but it was a sore loss to the magical world. It was the Fae, dwarves, nymphs and such, the ones that would usually breed with humans to create magic. When they disappeared, the people left with their magic tried to maintain what they'd been given, and that was where the pureblood families came from. You won't find all of them in _Fantastic Beasts_ or anything,either."

Hermione's brow rose. "Really?" she asked. "But wait! There's still veela! I know that _they_ mate with wizards!"

Maria sighed. "Would you like to buy the book?" she asked. "It will have all your answers."

Hermione looked down and saw a magical tag attached that said seventeen galleons. That was exactly how much she had left. Of course, there was no way anything in here would be cheap, they weren't rare books for nothing. But that meant she wouldn't be able to get anything to eat. No matter, though, she was sure Molly would cook enough at dinner tonight. So she decided to buy it.

"I'll take it!" she said, and Maria grinned.

Hermione left the store a few minutes later, the owner of a book that would change her life forever.

OoOoO

In three days he was going back there, to that place that had taken so much from him, but given so much as well. Draco Malfoy wasn't sure if he was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts, even though he was going to be Head Boy. Did he really want all that responsibility? All he truly wanted was to just qualify for his NEWTs and apply to a wizard university to study to be a healer.

Being a healer wasn't something that he would have ever thought that he would do, it had always been ingrained in him that he would someday take over the Malfoy empire, but all that had vanished after Voldemort's defeat. His father was now in prison, serving a life sentence, and Malfoy Industries had collapsed under economic crisis. They were still filthy rich, of course, but their main source of income was gone now because of the damage done to their name. All their investors had pulled out, and the company had floundered.

Not that Draco really cared. He thought it was karma, really, for everything this family had done, all in the name of a stupid halfblood that got himself killed by a boy with a superiority complex. Draco hated Potter, but he was glad that _he _won, and not old Voldy. That would have been worse for them, considering all the failures the Malfoy's had under their belt. In fact, Draco thought that Voldemort would probably have killed them once he'd been victorious. No, the only negative thing about Malfoy Industries going under was the loss of jobs.

In any case, he was supposed to go to Diagon Alley to get his things for school, but he'd been putting it off, and it was afternoon already. But Draco sighed, standing in front of the floo, and knew there was nothing for it. So he threw the powder into the fireplace, called out "Diagon Alley!" and stepped into the flames.

He emerged on the other side in the building that had several fireplaces in it, used as a sort of way station for wizards and such flooing to the Alley. He immediately made his way out of there and headed off to pick up his school supplies. It took him only an hour to get everything except his robes, that particular trip he was saving for tomorrow, because he was spending that time with his mother. Narcissa Malfoy wanted to be there when he got his robes, though he knew it was just because she loved shopping for clothes, more than it was for anything else.

In any case, as he was walking along, he bumped into someone coming out of a shop, and they collided rather ungracefully. Whoever it was fell backwards and Draco reached out automatically to help them steady themselves, but in the process, he dropped some of his things, and so did the other person. The two of them immediately bent down to pick up their belongings, and he found himself apologising.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No, no, it was my fault," the other person, a woman by their voice, spoke. "I wasn't watching where I was going when I came out of the... Malfoy?"

Draco looked up and found himself staring at none other than Hermione Granger. "Uh, Granger," he said rather obviously, then covered that slip by adding, "It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going either."

She looked surprised that he wasn't taunting her, and he couldn't say that he blamed her, either. They finished gathering up their belongings, and it was then that she had a particular book, one he'd heard of from his father, who'd been looking for a copy for years.

"Is that _A Guide To The Lost Beings Of The Magical World_?" he asked.

She frowned. "Yes. Do you know it?"

"It's an exceedingly hard book to get a hold of," Draco told her. "I know that my father had been looking for a copy for years! Where did you get it?"

"In this store," Hermione said, pointing to the shop she'd just come out of, then she frowned. "How rare?"

"My father thinks that there are only five copies left in the world," Draco asked. "They're worth thousands of galleons."

"I only paid seventeen for this one," she told him.

"Then you got a bargain," he told her.

The two of them stood up, and Draco suddenly felt awkward. "Well, I have to get going," she said.

"Oh! Yeah, I do too," Draco replied. "See you at Hogwarts then, I guess."

He watched with a sigh as she walked away, and he wondered what it was going to be like going back to Hogwarts with her as Head Girl. Yes, unless she refused the position for some reason, Draco knew that Hermione Granger was really the only choice academically for the position. No one else in the school matched her grades, not even any of the Ravenclaws or himself, and he was only five points behind her.

Sighing once more, Draco collected his thoughts and turned in the opposite direction Granger had gone, finished with his school shopping.

OoOoO

Hermione was quite confused with the fact that Draco Malfoy, of all people, had been polite to her. It was weird, considering how much of a prat he always was to her. But then again, maybe even _he _was capable of changing. War could do that, she supposed, for even the most arrogant and cruel person.

Deciding not to waste any more time thinking of Malfoy, Hermione, once she'd gotten home, carefully put everything away before going to get ready to go to the Burrow. They were all having a celebratory dinner tonight, because Charlie had brought home a girl for his family to meet, and she'd made a good impression on Molly. Her name was Rosabella Conti, and she was from Luca, in Italy.

The little flat that she'd rented just before bringing her parents' home was enough to suit her purposes, at least for now. Hermione fully intended to someday buy her own home, but she wanted to finish school first, and get a job before she did so. The rent on the flat was paid up until Christmas, at which point she was then going to pay up until her school year finished.

Once she was done getting ready, Hermione flooed over to the Burrow, to be instantly greeted by the sight of Molly Weasley telling off Ron. ''I cannot believe that you would do something like this, Ronald!'' she exclaimed. ''Now I have to set everything up again!''

It was then that they noticed Hermione, and, trying to get the attention off himself, Ron greeted, ''Hey, Mione!''

Molly turned then to see her and the welcoming smile that appeared on her face warmed Hermione's heart. ''Oh, Hermione, dear!'' she greeted, coming forward to engulf her in a hug. ''It's wonderful to see you! Are you staying for the night, or just for dinner?''

''Just for dinner, Molly,'' Hermione said.

Ron took the opportunity to sneak out of there, and after a moment, Hermione followed him. Dinner was wonderful that night, and afterwards, when saying goodnight, Ron gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and Hermione went home with a smile on her face.

**So, did you like it? Review please!**


	2. Reading The Book

**New chapter ready, and I don't own the Potter series…**

**Chapter Two – Reading The Book**

The whistle of the Hogwarts Express sounded, letting them all know that they'd arrived at Hogsmeade station, and the returning and starting students all exited the carriages eagerly. Hermione was among them, her fingers interlocked with Ron's as they disembarked, and she gave him a quick kiss before leaving him with Harry and Ginny. She needed to find the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy as it turned out, so they could help get the first years sorted.

"Granger!" came Malfoy's voice.

"Over here!" she told him. "Where's Hagrid? He's supposed to be helping us with this."

"Firs' years!" a voice boomed. "Firs' years here! Allo, 'Ermione! Ready for your firs' Head duty? Oh, and you too I suppose, Malfoy. Well, come on then, help me round th' little blighters up!"

Hermione smiled and Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Let's do what he says," she said, then called, "All first years here, please! It's alright, Hagrid won't hurt you…. No, you can't pull on his beard."

Hagrid let out a rumbling laugh at this.

Much later, after getting the new students onto the boats, Hermione and Draco were then led to their own carriages, and they took that trip up to the castle mostly in silence. Hermione was going over everything she was supposed to do as Head Girl, and she noted that Malfoy was rather engrossed in a book, whose title she hadn't yet been able to see. (Not that she was looking or anything.) But it made her think of her copy of _A Guide To The Lost Beings Of The Magical World,_ lying rather innocuously in her trunk, and she wished the ride would hurry up.

She hadn't yet had the opportunity to read it.

Once they were up at the castle, Professor Flitwick greeted them and led them all to the Great Hall, where second years and up immediately piled into the chairs where they normally sat. Soon the first years arrived, led by Hagrid, who took his seat at the teacher's table. The new students all looked rather nervously around the Hall as they took their first look.

Headmistress McGonagall stood then and approached the podium. "Greetings returning students and new students," she said. "I am glad that you could all come back, despite everything that happened last year. It is a sign that nothing will beat us, and that magic will go on. In any case, let's get the Sorting underway, shall we?"

Each new student was sorted, then the Headmistress took to the podium once more. "We also have some new faces among the teachers this year," she said. "Our new Muggle Studies teacher, let's welcome Professor Heiden Schäfer."

The new professor stood and bowed before retaking his seat, then the Headmistress went on, "Also, our new Transfiguration Professor, taking over my classes, please welcome back to Hogwarts, Professor Alicia Spinnet."

Surprised, the Gryffindors cheered as Alicia stood and bowed, then Professor McGonagall went on, "Professor Spinnet will also be taking over my role as Head of Gryffindor House. I hope you will all make her feel welcome."

"This is awesome," Harry said. "It'll be great having her around!"

Hermione smiled at him.

"Finally," Professor McGonagall said, "our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, please welcome Professor Gideon Kerr."

Professor Kerr was an unremarkable looking man, and he also stood and bowed before the students. Professor McGonagall then talked about what was out of bounds as well as mentioning Hogsmeade and other things. Then the feast was started.

OoOoO

Draco sat through the feast, feeling intensely bored. He was seated with his fellow Slytherins, the ones that came back of course. His two best mates, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott were here, as were Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson. Others were conspicuously missing, like Millicent Bulstrode and Greg Goyle. Millicent's family had been heavy supporters of the Dark Lord, and had fled Britain, and Greg himself had been a Death Eater, an unrepentant one at that, and was currently in Azkaban.

Blaise's family had been neutral during the war, as had Daphne's, and Pansy, even though she _had_ tried to sell out Potter at the final battle, was also exonerated of any connection to the Death Eaters. Not Theo, though. The only reason he was here was because the aurors had discovered two things that kept his friend out of trouble. One was the fact that he'd been imperioed by his own father, beaten senseless because of his initial rejection of the Dark Lord.

The other was his lack of Dark Mark. Draco only wished that _he _was lucky enough to not have one, but of course he'd received his when he was sixteen, thanks to his father. Theo had been scheduled to get one, but then the Dark Lord had been defeated. Draco himself was spared only after veritaserum and legilimens were used on him by aurors, and Potter had also spoken up for him.

That really didn't sit well with him, that _Saint Potter_ of all people had vouched for him at his trial. But Wonder Boy's testimony had also kept his mother out of Azkaban, so Draco wasn't complaining _too _much. No one had stepped up for Lucius Malfoy, though, and it was no surprise. He was still his father, and as such Draco respected him, but it really was his own fault that he was currently rotting away in a cell for the next fifty years plus. If he lasted that long, that is.

Someone poked him then, Blaise it was, and he hissed, "Draco! Everyone's leaving! Stop daydreaming!"

It was then that Draco noticed that McGonagall had dismissed all the students, who were now piling out of the Great Hall, some shuffling their feet sleepily, some almost rushing out in their enthusiasm. Sighing, he stood and followed his fellow Slytherins until they reached the point where they'd part. After all, as Head Boy Draco was going to be staying in a different dorm.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, and they all nodded and moved on, except Pansy.

"Don't forget," she told him. "If Granger gets too annoying, you're more than welcome back in the dungeons with us."

The slight suggestiveness of her tone left him in no doubt as to what she meant, and with a smirk, Draco replied, "I'll _definitely _take you up on that offer, Pansy."

She winked at him then took off after the others, leaving Draco to make his way to his separate commons alone.

OoOoO

Hermione had reached the Heads dorm and spoken the password to the rather noble wizard, Douglas Dissanayake, who spoke like a real gentleman to her. On her arrival she'd discovered that she'd made it there before Malfoy had, and she took the time to have a look around. The place was magnificent, with brown and cream tones that were pleasing to the eye. She'd half expected the common room to be decorated in reds and greens, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

She moved around the room, noting the bookcase filled with a selection from the school library, or perhaps it was solely for the Heads benefit? She ran her fingers over the leather bindings, noting the titles to see that the latter option was correct. None of these were available in the school library, not even in the Restricted Section. She smiled.

It was then that the portrait door opened and Draco Malfoy came in. "Hey Granger," he said, then looked around. "Adequate, I suppose."

Hermione glared at him. "What do you mean, adequate?" she demanded. "These commons are great!"

Malfoy just shrugged. "It's a bit small," he said.

Hermione decided she wasn't going to waste time arguing with him, but let out an irritated little huff anyway. She ignored him and continued her perusal of the room, eventually coming across two more doors. One led up a staircase to their rooms, while the other led to a small kitchenette that was obviously there in case they didn't want to go to the Great Hall to eat.

Deciding that she'd looked around long enough, Hermione climbed the stairs to the dorms and found three doors. One led to her room, one led to Malfoy's, and the other, when she opened the door to have a look, led to a bathroom. It looked like they were going to have to share. Groaning at the idea, Hermione went into her room and immediately went looking for her new book.

As soon as she found _A Guide To The Lost Beings Of The Magical World,_ Hermione set it carefully on her bed before changing into her nightclothes. Then she settled into bed and began to read…

"_This world is full of magical creatures, some with comprehension of the world around them, some without. But there are also those of human intelligence that have, throughout the long history of magic, interacted with humans on a day to day scale. Examples these days can be seen in goblins, veela, werewolf, centaur and other such beings. Many of these are discriminated against, but some, such as the veela, are welcome members of wizard society._

_Some species have also interbred with humans, and it is this fact that has some speculating that this could be the origins of magic in humans. And yet, not all the beings that did so are still here today. This book will go into detail on the many races that chose to segregate themselves from wizards, in one form or the other. Information in here is not easily gained elsewhere, as the sources referenced here are doubted by many in society today._

_Let us start with the Aos Si, whom many refer to as the High Fae, or Fair Folk. The history of wizards and the Fae is long and eventful, with many points in history indicating Fae interference in wizard life. For example, Morgan le Fay is thought to actually _be_ a Fae, as her name suggests. Her disagreements with Merlin over the practice of magic may have been due to the fact that Merlin had perfected Wand Art, and Morgan simply did not wish to let go of the traditional means of practising magic."_

Hermione was absolutely fascinated by what she'd read, and as she continued to read, she became even more excited over the idea of the Fae, whose existence she'd never really considered before. Eventually she came to the point that talked about their disappearance.

"_In 1422, the Fae King and Queen had a disagreement with the head of the Wizard Council at the time, and they declared that they would go into seclusion, withdrawing their magical support from our world. The announcement was met with uncertainty from the ordinary wizard and witch, but the Council scoffed the idea and declared that it wouldn't last long. To this day, there have been no more sightings of the Aos Si."_

She read long into the night, finally coming across a part that interested her personally…

"_The dryad, an earth aligned nymph, can still be seen these days, but sightings are rare and few between. The spells they wove over themselves have made it so that only those with dryad blood in them can even see them, no less than an eighth in their blood. Dryads stopped breeding with wizards several centuries ago, though there are rumours that they still seduce muggles, and that this is the reason the number of muggleborn witches and wizards has risen in the last three quarter millennium."_

Hermione quickly leafed back through the pages to the descriptions of dryads, and realised that they matched something she'd seen before. Back when they were hunting Horcruxes, she'd been setting up the wards in a forest they'd apparated to when she saw someone coming. It had been a woman, dressed rather scantily for the weather at the time, and she'd seen Hermione through her wards.

That woman matched perfectly the description of a dryad, and Hermione realised that maybe she had some Dryad blood in her? Her mother had, after all, been adopted, could have easily been the abandoned child of a Dryad. She moved back to where she was up to, then decided that she would leave it there and get some sleep. It was after one in the morning, after all.

Leaving a bookmark at her place, Hermione extinguished the candles in her room and let her head hit the pillow, getting some sleep before the first day back began…

**So what do you think? Review!**


	3. Veela And Their Mates

**New chapter! Woot!**

**I don't own the Harry Potter name.**

**Chapter Three – Veela And Their Mates**

"_Even though they still interact with wizards today, veela are included in this because they still segregate themselves to a certain point. Veela clans live apart from wizard societies, and only their own kind are welcome in their midst. It is though that perhaps soon the veela will also completely disappear from our world._

"_There are many families today who still claim strong bonds with the veela. There's the Abbott family, the Greengrass family, the Praxis family and most famously, the Malfoy family…"_

Hermione stopped reading then, and looked up from her book and across the Great Hall to where Draco Malfoy sat with his Slytherin buddies. Malfoy had veela genes? Well, that wasn't surprising, she thought, if you paid attention to the fact that he was physically similar to a veela. He looked up then and noticed her staring and raised his eyebrow. Hermione sighed and lowered her gaze back to her book.

"So, there's nothing to do until tomorrow," Harry said beside her, ignoring the fact that, even though they had no classes today, the teachers had told them to get their schedules and such sorted on this 'day off'. "You two want to go visit Hagrid?"

Hermione looked up to see Ron nodding and she gave her own assent. "But remember that there's a prefect meeting this afternoon, Ron," she reminded her boyfriend, who had been made a prefect again. Harry wasn't, but he was the Gryffindor quidditch captain once more.

"I know," Ron groused, but he smiled at her.

"Hey Mione, what's that book you're reading?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"_A Guide To The Lost Beings Of The Magical World_," Hermione said distractedly, engrossed in the paragraph that said that veelas had soul mates. "I bought it in Diagon Alley just before school started."

"That's an incredibly rare book," Lavender said. "What shop did you find it at? And how did you afford it? They're worth thousands of galleons."

"I got it at a new book store," Hermione said, "and I paid _seventeen_ galleons for it."

There were a few gasps, and Hermione looked up to see a couple of gobsmacked Gryffindors. "But why?" Lavender asked.

Shrugging, Hermione said, "I sent an owl off to ask the shopkeeper, but I haven't gotten a response yet."

Looking over at the Slytherin table once more, Hermione watched Malfoy laughing with his buddies, and she wondered who his soul mate was. Parkinson? The rather annoying girl did hang off him like some kind of leech. Maybe one of the others, like one of the Greengrass sisters? They apparently had veela too. And the Abbott family. Hermione's gaze moved over to the Hufflepuff table to the blonde and buxom Hannah Abbott, who was talking in huddled whispers with her best friend, Susan Bones.

She turned her attention back to her fellow Gryffindors then and noticed that Neville was also looking over at the Hufflepuff table, and wondered if it was Hannah or Susan that had caught his attention? Either way, she thought it was cute.

Hermione returned her attention to her book, becoming completely engrossed in it until Ron nudged her. "Mione, breakfast's over and we're going to see Hagrid now," he said. "You coming?"

Sighing, Hermione put her book away in her bag and stood. "Ok, let's go."

OoOoO

Draco had noticed Granger staring over at the Slytherin table, more specifically at him. He'd caught her eye a couple of times, and each time she looked away, he smirked and wondered if she had a crush on him. That would certainly make the year more interesting. But then he noticed that she was reading her book, and figured it was more likely she was wondering if he was part veela or something, which he was.

Pansy was currently talking her head off with Daphne, her best friend, while still clinging to his arm. He really didn't like her clingy nature, but he put up with it because she was fantastic in the sack. Tonight he fully intended to spend the night in the Slytherin dorm fucking her senseless. It had been awhile, after all. But until then, he had to endure the day hanging around his friends.

Well, not really _endure_. He did like his friends after all. Blaise in particular was a riot to be around, and quite often 'encouraged' Draco and Theo to get drunk in their dorms. He wasn't sure if he'd do it this year, he didn't want to lose his Head Boy privileges. But he knew he could figure a way around it.

Theo was rather quiet and introverted, unless he was drunk, and then he was worse than Blaise. Blaise had been trying to bring that side out of him whilst sober for a few years now, and was only getting any real success now that Theo's dad was dead. Draco had a feeling that Theo fancied Daphne, but time would tell if his shy friend would do anything about it.

"Why does Granger keep staring over here?" Blaise asked, disrupting Draco's thought process.

"That mudblood's staring?" Pansy demanded.

"Pans!" Draco snapped. "don't use that word anymore!"

Pansy's eyes widened. "Sorry!" she squeaked. "Habit!"

"Break it," Draco ordered, and she nodded, returning to her conversation with Daphne, far more subdued.

"Well?" Blaise asked, but Draco just shrugged.

"Hey Draco," Theo asked. "Is there a meeting for prefects this afternoon? I heard a Hufflepuff mention it before."

"Yeah," Draco confirmed. "At three."

"I wish I was a prefect again," Pansy said, "but Tracey got it."

Draco said nothing, knowing the reason Tracey got it was because her grades had shot up while Pansy's had slipped. Not a whole lot, but just enough for Tracey to get the position this year. There was no way that he was going to tell Pansy that, he'd never hear the end of it, and neither would Tracey for that matter.

The rest of the day was rather boring, then finally the prefect meeting came around. Draco waited in the assigned classroom, staring at the list on the wall that named all the prefects and quidditch captains.

_**Head Boy and Head Girl: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.**_

_Seventh year repeat Gryffindor prefect: Ron Weasley and Parvati Patil._

_Sixth year repeat Gryffindor prefect: Alastair Douglas and Ginny Weasley._

_Fifth year repeat Gryffindor prefect: Tobias Johnson and Alison Whyte._

_Seventh year repeat Ravenclaw prefect: Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin._

_Sixth year repeat Ravenclaw prefect: Simon Arbuckle and Dianna Moore._

_Fifth year repeat Ravenclaw prefect: Brice Dunn and Zoë Leith._

_Seventh year repeat Hufflepuff prefect: Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones._

_Sixth year repeat Hufflepuff prefect: Peter Summers and Mariah Coote._

_Fifth year repeat Hufflepuff prefect: Damien Anders and Felicity Zeller._

_Seventh year repeat Slytherin prefect: Theodore Nott and Tracey Davis._

_Sixth year repeat Slytherin prefect: Markus Harper and Gwendolyn Bole._

_Fifth year repeat Slytherin prefect: Zachary Thewlis and Astoria Greengrass._

_Gryffindor quidditch team captain: Harry Potter._

_Ravenclaw quidditch team captain: Michael Corner._

_Hufflepuff quidditch team captain: Jennifer Hopkins._

_Slytherin quidditch team captain: Blaise Zabini._

It was disappointing that he couldn't be the captain for the Slytherin team, but it was either that or Head Boy, and Draco made his choice. But at least he was still going to be seeker, with one last chance to beat Potter to the snitch.

So engrossed was he in studying the list that he didn't hear anyone come in and he fair jumped out of his skin when someone cleared their throat right behind him.

OoOoO

The visit to Hagrid's wasn't very interesting, and Hermione felt guilty for being bored out of her mind when the half giant told them all about the fresh batch of flobberworms he had in store for his third years. Even Harry and Ron looked uninterested, but they sat there and listened, because Hagrid was a good friend. Though naturally afterwards as they headed back up to the castle, Ron complained about flobberworms nonstop.

Lunch wasn't that interesting either, especially when everyone around her got talking about quidditch. Sure, Hermione enjoyed playing at the Burrow those few times when they needed an extra player, but she wasn't all that crazy about it. So she took the opportunity to read her book. She was still in the veela chapter, in a part that went into more detail about their mates.

"_Veela mates are usually other veela," _she read, _"but there have been several instances where their mate was a witch or wizard, leading to the inclusion of their genes into our society. Generally when that happens the matriarch of whichever clan the veela is from will come out of seclusion and spend days informing the mates family of the duties they will be required to observe._

"_Each time a veela mates outside their species, special permission needs to be given, though there is only one known instance where the veela matriarch didn't approve of the mate, and the veela in question was killed almost immediately. The mating process is such that if a veela didn't claim their mate, they would suffer greatly before dying of a broken heart, so the act of killing that veela was seen as a mercy to the clans._

"_Most veela recognise their mate as someone with whom they share an intellectual and spiritual bond. The latter is most important to them, as veela are among those magical beings who still worship the Old Gods, depending on which country they come from. For instance, the British veela still worship Gods such as Woden, Thunor and Tiw._

"_The approval is only needed for a pure veela, as half veela and down aren't considered to be a part of their clans anymore."_

The bit about the Old Gods fascinated Hermione, and she promised herself that she would look them up, as well as their impact on wizard history as soon as she could.

The afternoon was a little less boring, _especially_ the hour before the prefect meeting. Hermione spent it with Ron down by the Lake, snogging in the shrubbery, as her boyfriend had called it when he suggested it. So it was with a big smile on her face that she walked hand in hand with Ron to the prefect meeting, and there found Malfoy studying the prefect list rather intently.

She cleared her throat, and jumped back, startled, when he jumped and nearly rammed into her. "Holy shit, Granger!" Malfoy yelped. "You startled me!"

"I can see that," Hermione said, having no difficulty whatsoever in keeping a straight face while Ron snickered at the flustered Malfoy.

Twenty minutes later all the prefects were there and they all started discussing the schedule for rounds straight away. "Each pair will be separate houses," Hermione told them. "Professor McGonagall wants you all to set an example for House unity, and she also wants to discourage favouritism when you come across students out of bed that are in your House."

"Who's patrolling first tonight?" one of the fifth years asked.

"Malfoy and I will be," Hermione said, going on quickly before her fellow Head could say anything, "Professor McGonagall requested it, and I haven't had the opportunity to tell you, sorry, Malfoy."

"It's fine," he said with a sigh.

They worked out a schedule with each prefect patrolling at least once a week, no more than three, and with two pairs on Friday to Sunday nights. After that was done, they got into the topic of extracurricular activities, and a couple of the younger girls asked if they could have a Yule Ball, as someone always seemed to ask since the Triwizard Yule Ball. Hermione told them to put in a formal request, that it was up to the Headmistress at the end of the day.

Finally they went over things like tutoring for struggling students, and then the meeting was finished. Hermione looked at her watch and saw that it was nearly six, almost dinner time. Everyone left quickly, Ron with a quick kiss to her cheek after she told him she needed to stay to work some things out with Malfoy.

"Are you really fine with patrolling tonight?" Hermione asked.

"I _did_ have plans," he told her, "but I suppose it doesn't matter. School duties first, huh Granger?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course, Malfoy," she said, then admitted, "I felt a little bad, telling those girls that we probably wouldn't have a Yule Ball, when we _are_."

"We were told not to tell them yet," Malfoy said. "Don't worry, they won't hold it against you, especially when the time comes."

Hermione just nodded. There was silence, then Malfoy asked, "Why were you staring at me this morning at breakfast? Just couldn't resist getting an eyeful of the goods, eh Granger?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she hit his arm, snapping, "I was doing no such thing!"

"You totally _were _staring at me!" Malfoy taunted.

"I meant that I wasn't checking you out!" Hermione yelled. "I was just reading my book and it said the Malfoys have veela in them!"

"Oh, I thought as much," Malfoy said, smirking and bringing his hands up to defend himself as she hit him again.

"Arrogant prat," she muttered, then figured since the subject had been brought up that she'd ask, "Do you have a soul mate, Malfoy?"

OoOoO

"_Do you have a soul mate, Malfoy?"_

The question wasn't totally unexpected, Draco supposed, but he shook his head. "There isn't enough in me," he told her. "The last Malfoy to have a soul mate was my grandfather, Abraxas."

"Oh," she said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"If I was going to, I suppose it would be Pansy, maybe," he told her. "Or maybe Astoria, since my parents are actually hoping I marry _her_ when we're both done with school, and _not_ Pansy."

"She's a bit of a leech," Granger noted. "Is that why they don't want her?"

"That's one of the reasons," he told her.

Granger turned away to leave, but he reached out and stopped her. "Were you hoping for it to be you, Granger? Is that why you asked?" he inquired, a smirk on his face as he winked at her, and once again he was defending himself as she displayed violent tendencies. "Ow! Dammit Granger! You're too violent for my liking anyway."

She huffed at him and stormed out of the room. Draco's smirk never left his face as he followed her, keeping a safe distance between them as they both made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. He watched as Weasley greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and wondered what she saw in that loser. But then Pansy distracted him when she placed a hand on his leg, stroking him all the way up the inside of his thigh.

"I'm looking forward to tonight, Drakie," she purred in his ear.

"Bad luck Pans, I have to patrol tonight," he told her. "McGonagall wants the Heads out for the first patrol."

Pansy pouted and removed her hand. "Tomorrow night then?" she asked, and he nodded.

After dinner he made his way out with Pansy on his arm, noting that Granger was watching him with a frown.

**So, what did you think? And before anyone says anything, that bit where I mentioned that Hermione played quidditch at the Burrow, is actually in the books.**

**Anyway, review and tell me what you think, ok?**


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